Walking in the woods with your parents, stumbling along a river bank, jumping from boulder to boulder, skipping smooth stones across the water, looking up at the tall pine trees, and, of course, gathering pine cones to take home and make a wreath for the front door.

In the classic children’s book, The Littlest Angel, the angel, sent too soon to heaven from earth, brought along a Robin’s egg, two smooth stones, a bright and colorful butterfly, and the worn leather collar of his dog he played with as a child.

I would have included a pine cone from a walk with my parents in the woods on a bright summer day.

Our Ruby Pinecone throw pillow by Chandler 4 Corners is not free by shipping is in the continental US.

How to find happiness

Happiness is a state of mind, it is said, but those are empty words, for happiness is not something we think of, but something we experience, like the smile of a newborn child, the gift of a single rose on Valentine’s Day, a kind word when the day is long.

Don’t overthink it

Happiness is just one seat away.

Searching for the perfect Stressless chair takes time…, down time, to be exact.
Sit down in this chair or that, try another, check out the size, small, medium, or large, choose the classic base with its oval wooden shape or the signature base with its gleaming chrome and wood accents. Do you like the plush padding of the Mayfair recliner or the sleek modern look of the Nordic recliner?

Sit, recline, relax in a Stressless recliner

Sit, recline, relax, while you experience the ultimate in comfort. It takes time., but while you are searching, you are experiencing the patented features of the glide system that automatically adjusts the inner workings to give you the right angle to support your lumbar and neck regions.

To be honest, Stressless has done all the work for you. Stressless is the number one recliner for comfort. Designed and made in Norway to exacting standards, Stressless is made with a commitment to bringing you the very best in comfort.
And when you have completed your search for the perfect chair, what will you have found?

I can’t define it, but I know it when I feel it

Happiness, a state of well-being and contentment, joy, peace of mind, a pleasurable experience, words that are can not describe the feeling you experience when you sit in a Stressless recliner.
I am still searching for happiness, but that is the point. The journey, not the destination, the rewarding feeling of sitting in a Stressless recliner and relaxing takes time.

Hopefully boundless joy, loving family and friends, few cares and an abundance of God’s blessings, then, my friends, it helps to have a nut or two to tide you through the winter days, an adventure that lets you venture somewhere you’ve never gone before, and, at the end of the day, when you are tired from your honest toil, a thought to keep you warm in bed, may there be peace on earth.

P.S. Sue Grafton, We will miss you even while Kinsey Millhone is always there to entertain us with her saucy attitude and wit.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is that special time when families gather near.

Christmas time is that pleasant time with thoughts of Christmas past – of mince pies, plum-puddings, of candies and Christmas trees and child-laughter, and pretty little rosy mouths, sweetened by sugarplums, puckering into Christmas kisses underneath the mistletoe, in cozy cottages covered in piles of snow.

If you want to see how the other half lives, don’t sit home and think about it. Get out and run. You will find, however, that homes everywhere are like puppies and snowflakes, similar in so many ways, and always uniquely yours.

The grand canal between Bruges and Ghent is lined by high wall, tall trees, pretty homes and sweet gardens.

Worldly displacement and isolation are themes of Huynh Duy’s fanciful artwork. Surreal characters maintain a serene, precarious and solitary balance, in a dreamlike setting. The artist explores the boundaries of motion in a surreal environment, tempered by emotion, portraying not just the beauty of the human form, but the triumph of its spirit.

Art as an illusion is the highest expression of the divinely human spirit.

Vietnamese born, now based in North Carolina, Huynh Duy’s symbolism and wordplay is both humorous and introspective allowing the viewer to create their own storyline.

Thank goodness Thanksgiving is over, the leftovers eaten, and life is back to normal.

Oh dear, did we just experience Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday? Has your holiday shopping begun?

I had hoped to travel to Dallas and join my siblings and their families for an extended Thanksgiving. But, things did not work out, and so my Thanksgiving was a small affair here at home. Nice, but Thanksgiving is not the same without brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, Southern cousins, and kids galore.

It’s quiet.

I missed out on the turkey prepared on the grill in a slow cooker. My brother-in-law, Bob, always cooks his turkey on the grill, real slow. He says his mom cooked it that way when he was growing up.

The turkey always turns out moist and tasty.

I won’t bore you with his recipe. You can find one online. But I will tell you about the experience. Mind you, I don’t chop the vegetables, prepare the bird, or do anything that would suggest that I am a cook. I am an eater, that is my job, and I take it seriously with multiple helpings of everything.

During the preparation, I move back and forth between the football games and the grill and catch up on old times, smelling the rich aroma of the steaming bird, making do on an olive and a celery stick.